Zara's Blog

Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall  Historical Fiction Grades: Kindergarten - 3rd Awards: 2019 Caldecott Medal winner Summary:  Hello Lighthouse is a story about a lighthouse and its keeper. The new keeper replaces the old one and tends to the beam. Next, the keeper gets lonely and writes a letter every few days. Then, the tender that brings rice and beans also brings his wife. The lighthouse keeper is taken care of his wife when he gets ill and she makes sure the bell rings to alert sailors. Later, the happy couple has a baby. Eventually, the coastguard sends a letter and comes replaces the light with a new machine to run it so the keeper's family moves out.  The story ends by saying the lighthouse is built to last forever as the beam reaches the land.  Evaluation: I think this would be a really fun book to use in my classroom. It gives students an idea of what it would be like to live in a time where lighthouses and keepers were essential for sailors to be safe. T...

  The Way To Start A Day by Byrd Baylor & Illustrated by Peter Parnall Poetry Grade: Kindergarten - 2nd  Awards: 1979 Caldecott Honor Award Summary: The Way To Start A Day is a book about different people and how they celebrate the sunrise or dawn. The book starts by saying the way to start a day is to face the sun and say a blessing. It goes on to mention the cavemen and women that sang as the sun comes up. Next, the story talks about the chants lifted from the people of Peru and Aztecs playing music in Mexico. As the sun rises, blessings rise over Pueblo cornfields, songs rise through Africa, prayers rise through Japan, and people in Arizona hold their babies towards the sun. The book ends by saying people all over welcome the sun and they should watch as it changes color.  Evaluation:   I would use this book in my classroom because it has really stunning award-winning illustrations. The bright illustrations are attention-grabbing for children. This book i...

  In My Mother's House by Ann Nolan Clark & Illustrated Velino Herrera Poetry Grade: 1st & 2nd  Awards: 1942 Caldecott Honor Book Summary: In My Mother's House is a collection of poems about being a Pueblo Indian. The book begins by describing how much work and time the child's mother and father put into hand-making their house. It goes on to talk about the plaza full of people working and tending to the crops. The next poems are about protecting the land, the rivers that run through it, and the heart that holds the place together. The young child describes his abundance of horses and how they bring wagons full of corn. The final poems are about the juniper trees, wild plants, Indian tree flowers, yucca, and more growing things. The final poem says that the pueblo, the people, the fire, the fields, the water, the land, and the animals make the place feel like home.  Evaluation: I would use this book in my classroom because it is the appropriate reading level for t...

  Old Yeller by Fred Gipson  Western Fiction  Grade: 4th - 6th Awards: 1957 Newbery Honor Award Summary: Old Yeller is a story about a young boy named Travis Coates who is tasked with taking care of his family and maintaining the farm while his father is away. One day, he finds a big, starved dog who has eaten all their meat. When he tries to chase it away, Travis's little brother, Arliss, defends the dog. Travis is wary of Old Yeller, the dog, until he saves Arliss from a bear. Old Yeller becomes Travis's little assistant around the farm until his real owner, Burn Sanderson claims him. Burn ends up leaving Old Yeller with Travis because he sees how much the dog is loved. Old Yeller and Travis later get into an accident with a pack of wild hogs and take much time to recover. Mama and one of the neighbors go out for firewood one night and get attacked by a diseased rabid wolf but Old Yeller saves them. Sadly, the story ends as Old Yeller catches rabies and must be shot b...

   The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley  Historical Fiction  Grade: 4th-6th  Awards: 2016 Newbery Honor Award  Summary: The War That Saved My Life is a story about two children, Ada and Jamie. Ada is disabled by her cleft foot, but her mother, Mam, keeps her inside and claims that she is “simple” in the head. Mam makes Ada care for Jamie and punishes her by making her stay overnight in a cupboard with roaches. The children of London are shipped to the countryside and Ada has been teaching herself to walk secretly so she sneaks away with Jamie. They get placed with Susan who has her reservations about having children. Ada thrives while in the countryside because she is able to go outside, ride Butter (the horse), learn to read, and talk to other children her age. Ada’s mom ignores letter after letter from Susan to fix her clubfoot, but she shows up to take her children back to London because she doesn’t want to pay extra fees. Then, London...

  New Kid by Jerry Craft  Graphic novel  Grade: 4th-5th  Award: 2020 Newbery Medal & 2020 Coretta Scott King Award (Author WInner) Summary:  New Kid is a story about a young African American boy who is being sent to a private school for the first time by his parents. The young seventh-grader, Jordan, is hesitant about attending this school because he wants to go to art school. Jordan makes new friends with people at Riverdale Academy Day (RAD) including his guide, Liam, a fellow student on financial aid, Drew, and Alexandria who is made fun of for wearing puppets. He also meets a jock named Andy who teases the financial aid students. Jordan feels ashamed of his new school friends but his grandfather gives him an inspirational speech about intermixing his neighborhood and school friends. Even the teacher builds Jordan’s dislike for school by calling him and his new friend, Drew by the wrong name. Jordan learns to appreciate his art teacher and abstract art, ...

  The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander & illustrated by Kadir Nelson  Grade: 1st-4th grade Genre: Poetry/ Nonfiction  Awards: 2020 Newbery Honor Book, 2020 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Illustrator      Summary: The Undefeated is a book about the Black people and a history of injustice. This book recognizes the ones who lived through the turmoil in America and the ones who didn't survive. Next, the story talks about people who were shackled with chains and only had hope. The story acknowledges soldiers and peaceful protesters who marched against injustice. The Undefeated ends by depicting iconic figures from the history of Black people such as Martin Luther King Jr., Wilma Rudolphs, Jesse Owenses, and many more people who give future children hope in the face of unspeakable injustice.  Evaluation:  I would use this book in my classroom because it had really beautiful award-winning illustrations. The Undefeated is a great example of a picture boo...

  Music Everywhere! by Maya Ajmera, Elise Hofer Derstine, & Cynthia Pon  Nonfiction Grades: Pre-K - Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd Awards: None Summary: Music Everywhere! is a book about children who love music. The children make music by stomping, clapping, singing, and clapping. The children make music using lots of different instruments. The instruments are played in many ways like shaking, whistling, strumming, and thumping. The children think it's fun to play and perform and they can use music to show different moods. The children can play music in school, at home, or in their neighborhoods. The book ends by saying music brings people all over the world together and the children love it. Evaluation: Music Everywhere! would be a fun book to use in my classroom. This is an informational book on the Humanities. Music Everywhere! focuses on music and would be great for engaging students’ curiosity on the topic. This book provides a brief text with uncomplicated illustratio...

  10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh Nonfiction Grades: Pre-K - Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd Awards: None  Summary: 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World is a book about making the world a better place. This book describes easy tasks that can be completed to help the world. Some of these tasks include: turning off the lights, turning off the sink when brushing your teeth, taking out your trash, feeding the birds in the winter, writing on both sides of the paper, unplugging the tv when it’s not in use, making toys from recyclable things, walking to school, planting seeds, and sorting the recycling. The book also describes the benefits of doing these things like saving valuable energy, keeping the world safe and clean, saving gas, and cutting down air pollution. Evaluation: 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World is an informational book that explains the biological and physical aspects of the world. I would use it in my classroom because the reading level is appropri...

  Before After by Anne-Margot Ramstein & Matthias Aregui  Nonfiction Grades: Pre-K - Kindergarten, 1st - 3rd  Awards: None  Summary: Before After is a wordless picture book. There are illustrations of the sky before and after the sun sets. There are pictures of a flower before and after it blooms. There are pictures of a seed before it’s planted and then after it becomes a tree. There are pages and pages of illustrations such as a before picture of winter and an after picture of a warm fireplace, a rock before it’s turned into a statue after, an egg before it’s transformed into a baby bird after, and even fireworks before and after they're popped. This is a concept book so students can look at the illustrations and come up with words to explain what’s happening.  Evaluation:  Before After would be a unique book to use in my classroom because it is a concept picture book. This book is an uncomplicated text about different scientific concepts with large...

  You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter & illustrated by Andre Carrilho Nonfiction  Grades; 1st - 4th  Awards: Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Younger Readers  Summary You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! is a book about Sandy Koufax, a left-handed pitcher who was a talented professional baseball player from 1961-1966. Sandy Koufax grew up Jewish in Brooklyn. He was a talented athlete and first made the newspaper for basketball. Sandy was invited to watch the Dodgers game and then got drafted to the team. Koufax kept to himself and was not well-liked because he was a Jew and not very vocal. The Dodgers moved to LA and Sandy gave his general manager an ultimatum to trade him or let him pitch. After 13 losses and only 8 wins, Sandy quit. Fortunately, he returned and played the game of his life. The bases were loaded and Sandy’s manager told him to relax and then Sandy struck out the next two batters. He had to ice and take painkillers after each game becaus...

  Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan Roth & Cindy Trumbore  Nonfiction  Grades: 1st & 2nd, 3rd - 5th  Awards: Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal Summary: Parrots Over Puerto Rico is a book about the history of parrots in the Puerto Rico area. The parrots nested in Puerto Rico trees. Lots of hurricanes hit and blew nests out of trees. Then, the Spaniards came and renamed the island and brought Africans over as slaves. The parrots had to defend themselves from hawks. Black rats and honey bees brought from settlers' ships attacked the parrots. Spain lost control of Puerto Rico to the US. They turned the trees into charcoal and thrashers moved in and took over the resources that parrots need. The people noticed that the parrots were going extinct and started the Puerto Rican parrot recovery program to create a sanctuary. Scientists used incubators and grew parrots in captivity, put them through hawk training, and released them into the wild. The parrots su...